Well! Surprise, surprise… the Pita Gyro sandwich so famous for it’s piles of shaved meat, fresh vine ripened tomatoes, tasty onion and tzatziki sauce with a substantial helping of fried-to-a-crisp potatoes has an ugly cousin living in the north of Greece!
We went to one of the long, long, lines of roadside restaurants in Kavala to get out of the sun and have a Pita Gyro sandwich (I have been hankering for one for about 2 months now). When the sandwiches arrived the meat was slathered in ketchup and mustard!! Yes, you heard that correctly…ketchup and mustard!! There are two condiments I ‘never’ use and they are …ketchup and mustard. And here it is, my long awaited Pita Gyro covered….literally bathed in …ketchup and mustard. Now you may think I am whining a little too much about such broadly used sauces…but no, I firmly believe that if a dish (including a sandwich) does not have enough flavor to stand on it’s own with out the use of condiments then it is not really worth eating.
Needless to say I was shocked, stunned, amazed, and somewhat disturbed that the sandwich on my plate was ruined. But, the dilemma facing me was that I was very hungry and to send it back would mean waiting. So, I literally ‘bit my tongue’ and started to eat the sandwich. It was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be…in fact it was much worse! I tried to pick out all the bits of meat that had ketchup and mustard but stopped when half the sandwich meat was on the plate.
My husband seeing my obvious disenchantment called the waiter who called the cook…and it did not go well. We were told that this is the way that a Pita Gyro is made in northern Greece and that they always add mustard and ketchup!
Say what you may, it seems that I am a ketchup and mustard snob, and not in a good way!
©MTQ
TravelSpirit-The Hungry Traveler 